Best Of

You can't do it directly. Find somebody you trust, and give it to them. Then relog and have them give it back.

On many MMO's there is a community that keeps so many games alive, even when content is lacking, even when there's controversy, even when it feels like almost everyone else is gone.
The roleplay community can be one of the most loyal communities, treat them right and they'll practically stick through anything. When WoW was between Expacs, almost everyone was gone: the PVPers, the Contenters, The regular folks, but the Roleplayers were logging on every day because they happily created their own content and interaction.

It's the same on FF14, Guild Wars, and many other games. So, I come to you dormamu- I mean, Devs of Ashes, to request one thing.
Please add in 'custom emotes' for us roleplayers! In WoW or FF14, if you type /e or /em then a whole post like, "/e raises a brow at what you're doing." It would appear in /say as an emote, Remibyte raises a brow at what you're doing.

It's the most simplest thing to have, but yet the bare minimum needed for most communities and I already know there's a budding roleplay community on Ashes as they've already made their own website and Discord!
If that could be implemented, you'll start getting more and more players just wanting to hang out for the sake of hanging out.

And, if it's appropriate to suggest, another feature that is simple is taken from WoW's playbook. Not every emote needs an animation, at least not starting out.
You can add /facepalm and it can just be text that goes into say, Remibyte facepalms.
You can add /snort and it can be just text, Remibyte lets out a loud snort.

It's simple, but yet allows us to have just a bit more character to our.. Well, character. It doesn't need to be animated, it doesn't need to be voice acted or even given sfx, just a simple line popping up in Chat tends to make most people happy!

I agree that it's terribly convoluted and the amount of effort and combines for simple items is too high. By the time I can finally make something good I have out-leveled it's usefulness. The pacing and xp is exhausting, it needs overhauling.

I’ve put around 95 hours into Ashes of Creation and feel ready to give my honest feedback as someone who has been following this project since 2019.

First, the foundation of the game is okay. There is potential here. Some core ideas and systems are solid in concept.
However, none of them are ready for Early Access on Steam. What we are playing right now is not an alpha in the traditional sense — it feels much closer to a pre-alpha.

Anvil Zone (North) – Major Problems

Most of my playtime was spent in the Anvil zone, mainly because it has supposedly had ~5 months of development since being introduced in alpha. I expected rough edges — that’s fine.
What I didn’t expect was this level of incompleteness and inconsistency.

Honestly, I’m shocked. It feels like the people responsible for this zone either:

• don’t understand what systems are supposed to be here, or
• aren’t coordinating with the rest of the team at all.

The same systems that work in the south (gathering, crafting, hunting, basic progression) are either broken or missing in the north.

Professions & Hunting – Basically Broken

I spent 2 full days, around 4–5 hours per day, hunting wolves, hawks, ravens, etc. — exactly what you’re supposed to do in an alpha to test professions.

Results:

• Hunting reached level 12, mostly from rams
• In total loot:
  • ~20 raven + hawk carcasses
  • 3 wolf carcasses

That’s it.

Because of this, tanning is basically impossible to level in the north.
I understand difficulty tuning, drop rates, and “it’s alpha” arguments — but this isn’t tuning. This is poor zone management.

Content in the North – Almost Nonexistent

• There is one dynamic event, and it’s level 3
• No meaningful alternatives
• No real PvE loops

Meanwhile, in the south you at least have:

• basic dynamic quests
• repetitive, sure (kill same mob 50 times for 5 stages), but they exist

In the north?

• You hit mobs
• You maybe run caravans
• Maybe some PvP
• And that’s it

For a zone that’s supposedly been worked on for months, this is unacceptable.

South Zone – Overcrowded and Untestable

I didn’t spend much time in the south, mostly did a few caravan runs. It does seem more developed, but because everyone is forced into one zone, it becomes a mess:

• Balance is impossible to judge
• City storage often doesn’t open due to lag
• NPCs are sometimes untouchable because of body blocking

So even the “more developed” area can’t really be tested properly.

Biggest Issue: No Clear Roadmap or Project Transparency

After this experience, I tried to understand what the development team is actually doing:

• Looked for a roadmap
• Checked patch notes
• Watched updates

What I learned:

• There is no real roadmap
• No clear project management communication

Updates tend to show everything and nothing at the same time.

Whenever specific questions are asked (crafting, world design, social systems, etc.), the answers are always:

“We’re working on many complex systems.”

But:

• What is the crafting team focusing on right now?
• What is the world/zone team focusing on right now?
• What systems are blocked?
• What is considered complete vs placeholder?

There are no concrete answers.

Final Thoughts

Ashes of Creation has potential, but right now:

• This is not ready for Early Access
• The north zone is in an unacceptable state
• Core systems are inconsistent between regions
• And the lack of a clear roadmap and transparent project management is alarming

This project desperately needs:

• A real, clear roadmap
• Better zone ownership and accountability
• More honest communication about what is actually being worked on

I’m frustrated because I want this game to succeed — but pretending this is fine “because it’s alpha” is not helping anyone.

Huge fan of open world pvp. Being on both sides. Hunting players for fun random battles or trade packs, and also being hunted while trying to move packs or questing. Adds suspense to the world and makes it feel alive, and different each run.

WoW originally had pvp servers, and it was a blast. No huge loss if you were killed after starting a fight, just run back from graveyard to your body. Starting random raids and fights in other factions cities are some of the most memorable fun moments.

Archeage had the best open world pvp and consequence system. 3 factions. All at eachothers throats. Killing too many innocent players and you became a pirate, banished by both factions. Banned from towns. The ability to hunt your own faction was hilarious as well. Leading to the JUSTICE SYSTEM. Full court house with blood evidence on the ground that players can report. Getting killed and forced into court to explain yourself and spending time in jail was so funny to interact with and read the court chat was a highlight. kept the immersion. It still kept griefers in check because being WANTED and facing sometimes HOURS in jail was an extra suspense. Seeing other players that want to send you to jail and role play as bounty hunters was peak endgame open world pvp loop. I loved being a bounty hunter and sometimes a bandit.

AOC. Please do not make it possible to lose equipped gear for starting a battle with players. Keep the corruption system. Keep greifers getting flagged and appearing on the map for bounty hunters to go after. Keep them temporarily barred from major cities. etc. Please do not take the FUN out of open world pvp. No stat penalties while corrupted that mess your build up.

Make it a true justice system. Gain corruption and if killed by bounty hunters or players you go face trial by your peers and can go to jail or get off scott free. Never know what could happen. Its more immersive. Its fun. And funny. And won't cost you months of grinding epic gear. Still keeps pkers at bay as they would be a large target to all players, npc town guards, and face jail time. Or have no court system and just have pkers go straight to jail when killed. No need to lose loot. Just a big timeout.

Bing a bandit or a bounty hunter is peak endgame loop. Do not penalize players losing their gear just for doing what the game naturally is made for us to do. Steal eachothers fish, treasures, trade packs, caravans, and getting rare weapon drops to make us stronger to defend ourselves against other players trying to steal from us.

The world needs light vs dark dynamics to be truly alive. We need the bandits. We need the bounty hunters. We need the innocent. Do not have ANYONE lose equipped gear and weapons just for engaging in PVP. Everyone has a role to play. Villains or Heroes.